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What is considered Jim Starlin's best work?

Started by Marvel Zombie,

90 posts in this topic

hogations

hogations

Posted
Posted
His Captain Marvel work is much better than his Warlock work.

I liked his work in Marvel Feature.

 

DG

 

Why are you saying Captain Marvel was better? On which considerations?

The Warlock stories are very solid.

 

I'd say in my earlier years I definitely liked the Captain Marvel run better - the entire scope of the run was larger, grander, more epic.

 

However, over the years, I've come to appreciated his Warlock run better. I think part of it was the character development of Thanos in that run. That, and I think I really didn't understand some of the stuff that was going on back then. The Strange Death of Adam Warlock issue (Warlock #11 i think?) broke my brain. Huh? What just happened? Thanos teaming up with Warlock to beat future Warlock? What???? (trying not to spoil too much here).

 

 

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vaillant

vaillant

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However, over the years, I've come to appreciated his Warlock run better. I think part of it was the character development of Thanos in that run. That, and I think I really didn't understand some of the stuff that was going on back then. The Strange Death of Adam Warlock issue (Warlock #11 i think?) broke my brain. Huh? What just happened? Thanos teaming up with Warlock to beat future Warlock? What???? (trying not to spoil too much here).

 

That’s what I meant – what makes those stories great is that they have a great tone of mystery to them. I loved the whole Magus concept, and I quite got them when I read them first (I was about 11). Same goes for Steve Gerber’s Omega – great stuff. (thumbs u

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jaeldubyoo

jaeldubyoo

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Back in 1974, I was at Bob Sidebottom’s Comic Collector shop. I was a newbie and had only collected for about a year. Apparently, there was somebody signing comics. I asked who it was. It was Jim Starlin. I was unfamiliar with his work, but grabbed a comic out of the pile Bob had set aside for the event. It was Strange Tales #179. It took me a while to appreciate his take on Warlock. I loved the art, but sometimes I really didn’t “get it” at first. Over the years as I read the Starlin Warlock stories and reread them, I gained a deeper appreciation for them. I consider his best work to be the Warlock stories from Strange Tales #178 through Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2.

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Kramerica

Kramerica

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His '70s work definitely: Captain Marvel & Warlock, Avengers Annual 7, Marvel Two-in-One Annual 2, plus a few other related Marvel hero books from the same period, AND his "The Death of Captain Marvel" GN. A great artist and storyteller at the peak of his powers...

 

I would humbly like to add "The Price", the Dreadstar GN and Ghost Rider #35.

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Kramerica

Kramerica

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His '70s work definitely: Captain Marvel & Warlock, Avengers Annual 7, Marvel Two-in-One Annual 2, plus a few other related Marvel hero books from the same period, AND his "The Death of Captain Marvel" GN. A great artist and storyteller at the peak of his powers...

 

I would humbly like to add "The Price", the Dreadstar GN and Ghost Rider #35.

 

Perhaps it's implied with "Warlock" but Strange Tales 178-181 is required reading (thumbs u

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vaillant

vaillant

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:D Ha! I was really being nice. Although the art is nice, I can't stand his work on Warlock. It was off in left field. It wasn't cohesive to anything else being produced in the Marvel Universe. Why do I want to read a cosmic storyline with a clown in it? I know now that it was intended to be some jab at the Marvel production process, but I liked what Marvel was doing. Warlock is Starlin being a lone wolf trying to make a statement. I wasn't and still am not interested in his statement. Captain Marvel built off of established characters and content that had come before. It meshed and expanded upon that content. The art accentuated the story.

 

I do own some of Starlin's Warlock work, but I haven't had any desire to even look at it a second time in the past 35+ years.

 

Are you sure you aren’t being overtly influenced by the fact you knew/know all those behind-the-scenes informations (which are often misleading, as you never know what goes on in people’s lives)?

 

I have read the Warlock stories as a 11-year old or so, and re-read them years later, and I never thought it to be "not cohesive with the Marvel Universe", as you say. The fact of being so "elsewhere" was quite a quality of the stories, as it presented a Warlock which was far from Earth, but also far from himself, and this perfectly followed the previous development ideas of the character.

Starlin takes him in a very intimate direction, much like Gerber has done with the Son of Satan in his best stories, but this does not mean it was "detached" from the Marvel reality, he was simply living a "journey into himself", to quote Gerber on the Son of Satan.

Of course, I experienced them myself (as a young reader) as very different stories, but so was early Spider-Woman, and so was Killraven – but in the ed they followed the most important lines set by Stan and the previous generation of authors.

 

Something you cannot surely say for the late Tom DeFalco tenure as Editor-In-Chief, and all that followed, to the point Marvel has nothing to do with Marvel nowadays.

 

No, I would definitely not complain about Starlin’s Warlock, even if it contains elements of personal debates in the comics industry which are always unpleasant, but I don’t care for them.

And "Star Thief" is a story which definitely still makes my spine tingle – even if it does not feature other Marvel characters (and Warlock himself is more of a spectator in that, much like Gerber’s early Man-Thing, which I appreciate).

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Gatsby77

Gatsby77

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My votes for the "Death of Captain Marvel" GN. But his whole cosmic epic (Captain Marvel through Warlock) was a amazing.

 

Ran into him at a convention a few years ago and was embarrassed that he was just sitting there in artist's alley with no one at his table. Immediately went and found a copy of Warlock # 15 for him to sign & personalize to me. We chatted for awhile about his Silver Surfer and Infinity Gauntlet work. Just a shock to my system to see such a master ignored by the masses...

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Prince Namor

Prince Namor

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How can you not like this?

 

Strange_Tales_178-08.jpg

 

I think he's a talented artist and tremendously creative. Story-wise, Warlock was a dud. I think the fact that back issue prices have lagged on this material for many years is an indicator that I'm not alone with this opinion.

I read Iron Man #55 probably 100 times. It's one of the most beat up comics that I bought as a kid because I read it so many times.

Starlin did an introduction page on a Giant-Sized Defenders issue which is awesome.

 

DG

 

Yeah, actually he did the book end pieces for a bunch of reprints in that issue (9 very cool pages in all) centered around Valkyrie learning the origins of the other Defenders... Great stuff.

 

As far as back issue prices on the Warlock stuff, I think it's no different from much of the Bronze Age as far as pricing, there's so much of it out there, and the demand is so-so. For years, I bought those Captain Marvels (which most people favor over the Warlock stuff) for dirt cheap.

In fact, other than IM 55 (which had a little juice on it's pricing pre-movie), Starlin's work has for years been easy to find and inexpensive, regardless of story or popularity.

 

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divad

divad

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I got this off Comic Connect a couple of years ago for $22:

AMA15.586a.jpg

 

I'm trying to put together a HG raw run of that series...some of the issues are not easy to find.

 

I've still got 3 or 4 of my OO copies - which ones do you need? hm

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vaillant

vaillant

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I haven’t understood nothing of your reply, dgarthwaite.

 

Chuck is right, as to compare Warlock to the brief work of his birth as conceived by Lee and Kirby does not make sense. Starlin of course bases his work on the development of the character performed by Roy Thomas.

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Logan510

Logan510

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Avengers Annual #7 and Marvel Two in One annual #2

 

The Citizen Kane of comics.

 

The Warlock issues are extraordinary as well.

 

 

I like those stories, but I would hardly call them the Citizen Kane of comics...I wouldn't even call it a watershed moment in the history of comics.

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Ghost Town

Ghost Town

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Avengers Annual #7 and Marvel Two in One annual #2

 

The Citizen Kane of comics.

 

The Warlock issues are extraordinary as well.

 

 

I like those stories, but I would hardly call them the Citizen Kane of comics...I wouldn't even call it a watershed moment in the history of comics.

Hey Casey, you're probably right in saying that story isn't a watershed moment. It's not in the same league as Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, or Claremont/Byrne X-Men. But I think that it's probably one of the most influential Marvel stories of the last 40 years.

 

The story elevated Thanos into a major bad guy in the Marvel Universe. It took some time, but think about all the storylines that came out of these books - Infinity Gauntlet/Crusade/War and countless other books. I know Thanos had appeared in Iron Man and an earlier issue of the Avengers. But I think this story cemented Thanos' place in the Marvel Universe. Thanos also seems to be a big heavy in the Marvel movie world too. I doubt that would have happened without these books.

 

Besides all that, it was an epic story and Starlin's art with Rubinstein's inks looked particularly amazing.

 

So maybe it's not the Citizen Kane of the comic world. But maybe it's Raiders of the Lost Ark or Jaws. Definitely a high point, at least to me anyways.

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Logan510

Logan510

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Avengers Annual #7 and Marvel Two in One annual #2

 

The Citizen Kane of comics.

 

The Warlock issues are extraordinary as well.

 

 

I like those stories, but I would hardly call them the Citizen Kane of comics...I wouldn't even call it a watershed moment in the history of comics.

Hey Casey, you're probably right in saying that story isn't a watershed moment. It's not in the same league as Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, or Claremont/Byrne X-Men. But I think that it's probably one of the most influential Marvel stories of the last 40 years.

 

The story elevated Thanos into a major bad guy in the Marvel Universe. It took some time, but think about all the storylines that came out of these books - Infinity Gauntlet/Crusade/War and countless other books. I know Thanos had appeared in Iron Man and an earlier issue of the Avengers. But I think this story cemented Thanos' place in the Marvel Universe. Thanos also seems to be a big heavy in the Marvel movie world too. I doubt that would have happened without these books.

 

Besides all that, it was an epic story and Starlin's art with Rubinstein's inks looked particularly amazing.

 

So maybe it's not the Citizen Kane of the comic world. But maybe it's Raiders of the Lost Ark or Jaws. Definitely a high point, at least to me anyways.

 

I hope it didn't seem like I didn't like that stuff as I certainly do. I think it's among the better stuff Marvel produced in the 1970's.

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Ghost Town

Ghost Town

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I hope it didn't seem like I didn't like that stuff as I certainly do. I think it's among the better stuff Marvel produced in the 1970's.

Can't argue with that. For me, I'd put it up there with my favorite comics of all time. I remember reading Avengers Annual #7 and having to run to the kitchen and ask, "Mom, what does stellar genocide mean?"

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